Bridge and flooring therefor



Jan. 19, 1943. c. TIETIG ETAL 2,308,943

BRIDGE AND FLOORING THEREFOR Filed Aug. 14, 1939 Patented Jan. 19, 1943BRIDGE AND FLOORINGTHEREFOR Chester Tietig, Covington, and Harry N.Henry, Ludlow, Ky.; said Henry assignor to said Tietig ApplicationAugust 14, 1939, Serial No. 289,954

2 Claims.

This invention relates to a sectional bridge and sectional flooring forbridge and general use. The bridge is of the kind which spanscomparatively short distances, that is to say, less than 500 feet,preferably less than 300 feet, although the invention is not limited toany dimensions. The flooring is especially adapted for use upon bridges,but may be used for general purposes.

Among the objects of the invention is the provision of a bridge or floorwhich is made up of a small number of standard parts, so that a bridgeof substantially any length within the dimensions above given, or anyreasonable breadth may be assembled even by unskilled labor, byattaching such parts to each other and to standard supporting beams. Theflooring is of the same general nature and can be used to advantage tomake highways, ship decks, factory floors, etc.

Figure 1 is a sectional view of a bridge or flooring adapted to userolled steel plates and beams.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a partially constructed bridge of thesame character as that of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a sectional view of a width extending plate showing ourspecial mounting therefor.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the same kind of plate as is shown inFigure 3, except that it is dismounted.

In the drawing, is one of a plurality of I-beams upon which the roadwayor flooring structure of the bridge rests. Generally only two I-beamsare necessary for a small bridge as shown in Figure 2, although anynumber of I-beams may be employed to broaden the structure as indicatedby Figure 1. Beams built up of channel sections or angle irons toresemble I-beams are deemed to be the equivalents of I-beams.

Referring to Figure 2, it will be seen that the bridge is composed of aninfinite number of floor sections 35, longitudinally considered. Eachplate closely abuts its neighbor and has an upwardly extending arcuateform. The are is rather flat.

Each plate is clamped under the top web of each of the I-beams [0 bymeans of a special construction which is of the essence of theinvention. In Figures 1 and 2, 3| are the bridge abutments, but 3| inFigure 1 may also be a wall, as of a factory, or it may also indicatethe side plates of a ship. The form shown in Figure 1 is particularlyadapted to cover extensive spaces. For this reason, the outer plates areshown discontinuous to indicate that any number of them may be joined bymeans of I-beams to make flooring.

Adjacent the vertical web of I-beams I0, they are attached by means ofrivets or bolts 32, but preferably by means of bolts, one or more angleirons 33. These irons are attached in approximately the position shown,so that an acute angled crevice 34 is formed under the laterallyextending web of the beam. This crevice 34 should be large enough toadmit the edge of the plate 35' so that the edgeof said plate abuts thevertical web of the beam Ill. The crevice should be wide enough to makeallowance for the curvature of the plate 35 as shown in Figure 1. Inother words, it should be wider than the thickness of the plate 35 whenthe latter occupies only a single plane. The result is that strongflooring is made from the plate 35, since a downwardly pressing loadputs the plate into compression against the vertical webs of the I-beamsand thereby takes advantage of the great inherent strength of thearch-like form. It is to be noted that the tops of I-beams ID are leftfree of rivets and perforations, consequently no roughness is createdand strength is not impaired. The tops of the beams Ill are left smoothto form a part of the flooring or roadway as well as theplates.

While the load of the roadway is carried on the top flanges of the angleirons 33, there is a certain clamping action between the angle irons andthe top lateral web of the I-beams so that vibration and loosening ofthe plates is kept to a minimum.

In Figs. 3 and 4, a modified form of plate 35 is shown. In this form, inwhich there is no conventional arch, but instead a flat arch, there is ashoulder 36 on each side of a flat surface. A flange 31 is thereforecreated which is adapted to fit into the crevice 34 as shown in Figure3. The flattened form of plate 35 is preferably corrugated by grooves28, some of which project upwardly and some downwardly, thus adding tothe total strength of the plate to resist buckling.

As shown in Figure 2, a railing 24 may be attached by bolts 38 to thetops of I-beams l0. Steel reinforcing struts 39 may'also be applied asshown in Figure 2 or in any conventional way, to keep the beams I0 fromspreading away from each other under load. It is to be noted that theplates 35 as used in our construction are wider than they are long, itbeing intended that each plate shall be of the approximate width of theroad and that the arch thereof shall approximate the ordinary crown of aroadway. The curved plates are also preferably scored with grooves 28and if desired, they may be held together to prevent spreading in thedirection of the length of the roadway by means of tabs or lugs 40, afew of which are shown in Figures 1 and 2. The plates 35 are to bebolted together by causing said tabs or lugs to abut and the tabs arethen to be secured together by means of bolts (not shown) which extendthrough slots 4|.

It is recommended that when the structure is assembled, the angle irons33 be first hung loosely by bolts from the vertical webs of the I- beamsl0 and that the ends of the plates 35 be then inserted into the crevices34, followingwhich the bolts are tightened to clamp the plate edgesbetween the horizontal angle iron flange and the horizontal web of theI-beam.

A row of weep holes 25 are preferably providedthrough the plates 35immediately adjacent the edge of the horizontal webs of the I- beamswhen the structure is assembled.

We claim as our invention:

1. A metal flooring structure comprising a pair oflongitudinally-extending beams arranged in substantially parallel spacedrelation, said beams each having a vertical web and a pair ofhorizontally disposed flanges extending laterally from the web closelyadjacent its top, said pair of flanges being arranged in substantiallyparallel closely-spaced relation so as to define a relatively narrowcrevice extending longitudinally and adjacent the top of said beam andthe pairs of flanges being located on opposed faces of said beams. and aplurality of upwardly arched plates arranged in laterally-abuttingrelation with their ends projecting into the crevices of the opposedbeams and engaging respectively the upper and lower surfaces of theflanges, said flanges providing substantially the sole support for saidplates.

2. A metal flooring structure comprising a pairoflongitudinally-extending beams arranged in substantially parallelspaced relation, said beams each having a vertical web and ahorizontally disposed flange extending from the top of said web, theflanges oi! said beams being disposed toward each other, angle ironssecured to said beams, each of said angle irons having a vertical flangeflatly abutting the vertical web of a beam and rigidly fastened theretoand a horizontal flange located a spaced distance below the horizontalflange of the beam so as to form therewith a relatively narrow creviceextending longitudinally and adjacent the top of said beam, and aplurality of upwardly arched plates arranged in laterally-abuttingrelation with their ends projecting into the crevices of the opposedbeams and engaging respectively the lower and upper surfaces of thehorizontal flanges of the beams and angle irons.

CHESTER 'I'IEIIG. HARRY N. HENRY.

